Herher
Հերհեր
St. Sion Monastery in Herher
St. Sion Monastery in Herher
Herher is located in Armenia
Herher
Herher
Herher is located in Vayots Dzor
Herher
Herher
Coordinates: 39°46′24″N 45°32′19″E / 39.77333°N 45.53861°E / 39.77333; 45.53861
CountryArmenia
ProvinceVayots Dzor
MunicipalityVayk
Elevation
1,680 m (5,510 ft)
Population
  Total706
Time zoneUTC+4 (AMT)
Herher at GEOnet Names Server

Herher (Armenian: Հերհեր) is a village in the Vayk Municipality of the Vayots Dzor Province of Armenia. It is located 32 km east of the Province center, on the right side of the middle stream of the Herher River, a right tributary of the Arpa River.

Historical and cultural sites

Apricot orchard in Herher

The Gergeranian pear, a critically endangered tree endemic to the region, is found near the village. The largest known individiual is located on the road to Herher, and it is considered a symbol of the village.[2]

Located one kilometer northeast of Herher is the St. Sion monastery, which has been mentioned in historical records since the 8th century. It consists of two churches and a chapel. In Herher, the St. Sion single-nave church is considered the oldest (built with semi-finished sandstone) and has a unique architectural composition for Armenian buildings. The rectangular vaulted hall ends with a semicircular apse from the east and west. The Church of the Holy Mother of God (1282-1283) adjacent to it from the south is also single-nave, vaulted, with two equal semicircular apses in the east. To the north of the St. Sion Church, there is a small one-nave chapel. In the walled monastery's cemetery, there are khachkars (cross-stones) with inscriptions that date back to the 13th to 17th centuries. There is also the St. Gevorg Church (19th century), a three-nave basilica with two pairs of gables.

To the south of Herher, the half-ruined chapel of St. Grigor the Illuminator (1296) and the small church of St. Gevorg (Chiki monastery, 1297) can be found. About one kilometer to the southeast, on the top of the mountain, the small "Blue" fortress (13-14th centuries) is located.

Three kilometers north of Herher, in the village, the apse of the church built with semi-finished basalt has been preserved, near which, on the pedestal, there are two carved khachkars. Around the village, there is a large khachkar (1282), smaller khachkars adorned with primitive sculptures from the 13th to 15th centuries, and tombstones that depict domestic themes.

Population and economy

The population dynamics of Herher over the years:[3]

Year 1831 1873 1897 1926 1979 1989 2001 2011
Population 213[3] 978[4] 1562[4] 928[4] 739[3] 679[5] 745[3] 706[1]

The population is engaged in animal husbandry, cultivation of grains, forage crops, and fruit growing.

References

  1. 1 2 Statistical Committee of Armenia. "The results of the 2011 Population Census of Armenia" (PDF).
  2. Anna, Asatryan (2019). "Wild Pears of Armenia". Acta Biologica Plantarum Agriensis. 7: 19–31. doi:10.21406/abpa.2019.7.19. S2CID 213261414. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Centre of Geodesy and Cartography" SNCO under Cadastre Committee of the Republic of Armenia (2008). Dictionary of settlements of the Republic of Armenia (PDF). Yerevan. p. 184. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-02-09.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. 1 2 3 Zaven Korkotyan (1932). The population of Soviet Armenia in the last century (1831-1931) (PDF). Yerevan: Publication of the Melkonian Fund.
  5. H. Barseghyan, S. Melik-Bakhshyan, E. Aghayan (2001). Dictionary of the toponymy of Armenia and adjacent territories, vol. 5. Yerevan: YSU Publishing House. p. 916.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.